Author: Archive

Canada Post faces shortfall, admits pension fund is insolvent

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

Canada Post is forecasting a loss for the first time since 1994, when it began running up a string of profits following years of red ink and labour unrest. In a document tabled in the House of Commons, the post office has also disclosed its 1.1-billion dollar pension fund became insolvent as of last December and the Crown corporation was forced this year to contribute 267 million dollars to the fund to keep it viable under federal pension rules. The post office said it will return to deficit within five years unless it can adjust to the changing marketplace and growing competition. Canada Post last year transferred an initial instalment of 129 million dollars to the pension fund, a spokesman said. The post office cites exploding use of the Internet for bill payments and e-mail as a leading cause of its problems.

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TNT Mail to take on Royal Mail with UK delivery service

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

Postal operator TNT Mail says it has ambitious plans to launch an end-to-end delivery service that will challenge Royal Mail’s dominance of the market, despite the fact TNT’s current service is about to be axed. TNT Mail has been using Express Dairies’ residential delivery service since last year to distribute small parcels, magazines and catalogues. However, mounting losses have forced Express Dairies to scrap the service as of next month. “It’s clear we will never be in a position to match Royal Mail’s delivery scale, but we will be its prime challenger,” said David Higham, development director for TNT Mail. “Where there’s a business case to put forward, we will be there. Our deal with Express Dairies was mainly concerned with heavier items and this is only a small part of the market.” Higham said TNT Mail will be looking at offering a service for heavier-weighted items and letters and could seek to develop this through a partnership or by acquisition.

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Royal Mail braces for deregulation

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

It’s been a challenging year for Royal Mail. The postal operator’s plans to introduce pricing in proportion (PiP) got a mixed reception and it has been heavily criticised for poor delivery times and missing letters.

But 2006 is likely to prove even more testing. In January, the UK mail market will open its doors to full competition and mailers are already changing their allegiances.

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UK Rentokil Initial’s parcels business plans to cease franchising

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

Rentokil Initial has today announced that its parcels delivery business Initial
City Link will, over a period of time, cease to operate on a franchised basis.
This is another important step forward in Rentokil Initial’s development. The
change will return full control of Initial City Link to the Company and should
deliver better returns for our shareholders while maintaining or improving
service to Initial City Link’s customers. Franchisees, who collectively have an
estimated annual profit of GBP5 million, will be offered a fair price for their
businesses and will be given plenty of time to plan the transition. The franchise model used by Initial City Link has been in place since the early
1990’s largely unchanged and the franchisees have played an important part in
its growth. However, thanks to recent investment in franchisor sales and
marketing and a renewed focus on personnel, better growth is being experienced
in Initial City Link’s controlled and operated branches than in those of the
franchisees.

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Marisa Cassoni stepping down from UK Royal Mail

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

Royal Mail announced today that Marisa Cassoni, Group Finance Director, will be stepping down from her role and leaving the company at the end of December.
Marisa Cassoni has been with the Company for over four years and has been a key member of the team which has seen the Company through its successful three-year renewal plan. Royal Mail is now moving into the next stage of its development, with the market opening to full competition from January 1, and the process to find a new Group Finance Director will now start.

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Experian takes on Royal Mail with UK movers data file

Posted by | Oct 26, 2005 | |

Experian is challenging Royal Mail in the movers data market by launching its own change of address file, Absolute Contacts. Royal Mail operates the market leading NCOA (National Change of Address) file, based on consumers who have moved home and have paid Royal Mail to register their new address. Absolute Contacts uses Experian’s Absolute Movers file to identify goneaways. It estimated that about half the 3.25 million Britons who move house each year do not register their new details on Royal Mail’s file and it is this gap that Experian is hoping to exploit.

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Royal Mail row brews – No taxpayer bail-out without full privatisation

Posted by | Oct 25, 2005 | |

Royal Mail is entering a crucial phase in its 345-year history. The next few months will see its regulator decide how much it will be able to charge for stamps until 2010, the publication of the Bain report into its future and the advent of full competition for postal services in January 2006.

Small wonder, then, that there is a sudden clamour about the company’s Pounds 4.5bn pension fund deficit. Royal Mail knows this is one of its strongest cards in arguing for lighter price controls. Allan Leighton, its chairman, also knows that the deficit could scupper his plan to make Royal Mail a partly employee-owned business.

Ministers meanwhile appear split between those who believe that there may be a case for a taxpayer bail out and those who want to resist such a bail out at all costs. The regulator should treat all this jostling for position with a heavy dose of salt.

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UK Royal Mail managers to help clear Christmas postbag

Posted by | Oct 25, 2005 | |

Thousands of Royal Mail managers have been asked to work in sorting and delivery offices or even drive postal vans in the busy run-up to Christmas in a bid to cut costs, it was revealed today. The organisation said it wanted managers to spend 10 days or more helping clear the expected huge festive postbag so it could cut back on the number of casual staff it employed. Senior officials worked in sorting and delivery offices last year and the practice will be encouraged again in the coming months. “This is about making Christmas a success for our customers,” said a Royal Mail spokesman. “Our managers have always been very willing to volunteer.”

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